dx3 in review: The start of something incredible

Two days, 3,469 Canadian Marketers and one remarkable event. That was this year’s Dx3. On January 25 and 26, the Toronto Metro Convention Centre was filled with tonnes of engaging conversations around Canada’s digital advertising, marketing and retail landscape.

Plastic Mobile was very proud to be a participant in the inaugural forum for Canadian digital innovation.

For me, some of the highlights included, Visa’s touchless payment transaction ice cream exhibit, which not only kept my team full of delicious ice cream, but also demonstrated to attendees the future of NFCs. Visa’s Derek Colfer gave a session on the future of NFC in the Canadian mobile industry, saying that it’s still going to take awhile for things to get going. He cautioned his audience to consider that it took nearly a decade to get the credit card chip and PIN rolled out in Canada, so we shouldn’t expect to see mobile payments rolling out in 2012. Nevertheless, the Visa booth allowed visitors to practice using NFC technology to get some ice cream. Pretty awesome.

Also, Doug Stephens, President of Retail Prophet Consulting, and Candice Faktor of ShopCatch began the second day of Dx3 with an interesting keynote on the retail space. Stephens was a man of the future, looking ahead into retail 20 years from now, whereas Faktor focused on present-day retail. Both speakers concurred that mobile has shaken up the retail industry unlike anything ever before seen.

Another exciting event was the startup “pitch-off” at the Intertainment Media Incubation Zone. Five contestants were given five minutes each to pitch their plan. The winner was the Toronto-based startup, Stylsize, who showcased their very cool online retail mobile solution with its advanced apparel-fitting technology.

Two interesting mobile-related myths that were actively debunked at the show were about group buying and broadcasting apps. There was a charge to make attendees better understand that the emphasis for group buying is not about “will I make a profit?”, rather customer acquisition. And that broadcasters are missing the mark by creating apps that just copy their TV experiences without adding value and making them “Mobile friendly.”

And of course Plastic Mobile was there, bringing the mobile-retail relationship to life with our interactive candy shop, which was the talk of the Dx3 highlight list.

After such a great forum this year, we can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2013.

Plastic Mobile teams up with leading group-buying site TeamBuy to bring the power of shopping to your fingertips – literally! Plastic Mobile announced the launch of the TeamBuy app yesterday in a press release. Our award-winning mobile marketing agency and TeamBuy, a leading Canadian group-buying site, created a channel that allows smart shoppers to get great deals anywhere, at anytime, on the go.

With mobile commerce on the rise and more than 60% of mobile users shopping on their smartphones, the TeamBuy app allows savvy shoppers to get that amazing weekend getaway or a spa-cation deal without rushing to a desktop. The app uses geo-location to offer deals pertinent to the users nearby area and allows TeamBuy users to track their purchases and redeem them directly from any iPhone, iPad, iTouch or Android phone. Built directly into the app, the “Team Bucks” loyalty program ensures users keep coming back to the app for more.

Check out the video to learn more!

The Plastic Mobile elves are working hard to create a real treat for anyone attending Dx3′s showroom floor. The Plastic Mobile booth is shaping up to be a one-stop-shop for a peak into how mobile really works – more specifically, how it can work for brands in the rapidly evolving world of commerce.

While we are certainly not about to divulge our top-secret booth plan (that’s classified intel), we are happy to give you a little something to nibble on while you wait in bated-breath suspense for January 25th and 26th to arrive so you can burst through the doors of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and hurry to see what Plastic’s got in store. The tidbit? Don’t sugar coat your mobile initiatives – quality is key to ensuring the best user experience and repeat usage. Stay tuned for more info on Plastic’s presence at Dx3. Are you getting excited? Tweet us @plasticmobile and tell us what you’re most looking forward to.

Also, take advantage of our exclusive Plastic Mobile Dx3 giveaway!

Every Friday, Plastic Mobile brings you a video blog that answers some of the burning questions surrounding mobile, e-commerce, the future of retail and other exciting mobile topics. Watch the “Queen of Apps,” Melody Adhami, and other industry experts, squeeze their answers into “60 Mobile Seconds” (or, close enough, anyway).

Mobile has been under the thumb of skeptics ever since it arrived on the scene. It’s been a long time coming, but we think Mobile Marketing is finally being taking seriously. Consider these top three examples that support our hypothesis:

1. Brands bringing mobile in house – According to an article in Mobile Marketer, Walmart and e-bay, are following in Amazon’s footsteps and bringing their mobile markting development and management in house. This major move indicates they are ready to take the mobile space seriously: “These acquisitions are a welcome validation that competent mobile executions are critical to a healthy marketing program, and that expertise is in short supply,” said Brennan Hayden, vice president of WDA, East Lansing, MI.

While other big-name brands, like Lexus, who are outsourcing to agencies are still doing it right, these stores are being super-savvy in preventing their competitors from using the same tools. This bodes well for the future of mobile, but has the potential to be bad for business. Thankfully, we know that our quality work validates itself.

2. Brands that aren’t, are going down – Those big names that are not taking steps to incorporate mobile into their marketing plans seem to be feeling the effects of their negligence. For instance, we recently blogged about how e- and m-commerce were partially to blame for the demise of a number of Sears and K-Mart stores after grimm holiday figures.

Furthermore, in 2008, Kate Spade New York was a strugglin,’ but, when Craig Leavitt came on board as CEO, he woke up a sleeping giant and changed its outlook on online marketing. The result? Kate Spade is now one of the strongest brands supporting m- and e-commerce.

3. Facebook hearts mobile – The social networking behemoth was one of the first companies to jump on board the mobile train. They continue to bolster their mobile platform at ever chance they get, and are careful to always listen to their users. Thus, Facebook recently announced a new Comments Box plugin for mobile websites – a feature in high demand by business owners and website proprietors. The new plugin will make it simpler for websites to engage consumers regardless of where they are. Essentially, if the Book is doing it, you probably should be too.

There are countless other examples of how Mobile Marketing has finally grabbed everyone’s attention, but the bottom line is, if you’re not going mobile, you really should be. What do you think? Is it mobile’s time to shine?

Home entertainment guru, Panasonic, is exploring another area of household appliances: produce. Yup. Their Japanese business daily The Nikkei has produced the first coud-based fruit and vegetable home growing unit.

Tech Crunch posted about the 100x50x30cm “Smart Vegetable Garden,” noting that Panasonic claims that users can harvest their fare in 40 days, about 30% quicker than when using conventional methods. As well as being able to see the fruits if your labour sooner, the whole mini biosphere can be managed by a cloud-based system that will track the growth, water and temperature, as well as the nutrient levels of the soil.

This handy little eco-gadget can be connected to multiple units, and can be indoors or outdoors, though we suspect limiting its use to the warm-weather months if you opt to garden in its natural environment.

Last, your Smart Garden can be bundled with a home solar energy system that Panasonic is currently selling in Japan.

Some skeptics are concerned that this may be an exciting new avenue for other homegrown…err…plants. But at the outrageous cost (US$7,800), we’re more certain that some tech-trend loving, organic zealot celeb will be the first to snatch this up. Happy gardening!

Spending money on lavish items is fine, if you have the money. However, there is a limit to everything, and we say a $50,000 featurephone has definitely exceeded that limit! Pricey luxury items should at least try and justify why they are pricier – unfortunately, the Gresso Grand Premier does no such thing. Yes, there is about 150 grams of gold and 138.5 carats of sapphire crystals in each handset, but if that is what you are looking for, why not just buy some serious jewellery?

What really gets to me is the fact that this bedazzled phone isn’t even SMART (meaning, it’s not of the smartphone variety)! In a time where everything is moving towards mobile – from the way we communicate to the way we shop or entertain ourselves – Gresso has the audacity to design a phone with an ancient S40 UI and charge $50,000 for it! Who is exactly the target market here? We ask you.

Maybe it’s just me, but even if I had the cash, I would rather buy an iPhone and use the rest of the money to purchase a YAMAHA Disklavier Piano, a beautiful Arkiane Kephren fireplace and a 16 year old bottle of Lagavulin scotch. That way I could stare at my stunning fireplace and sip on my scotch while I ask SIRI to play me some Wagner on my Disklavier Piano.

A recent InsightExpress study suggests that mobile and print would make a great team. The company found that mobile users are also print junkies: “Based on our findings, it’s clear that brands and retailers should be incorporating mobile into their print strategies,” said Joy Liuzzo, vice president and director at InsightExpress.

Print and Mobile, sitting in a tree...

Liuzzo goes on to say that there’s more to this relationship than just a little QR coding. There are a number of ways to strengthen this bond, including article archiving or sharing and information gathering. The company specifically focused on QR codes and user engagement, finding that smartphone owners who use their mobiles for six or more daily activities were also reading or subscribing to print publications. These users are a hot target for advertisers as they have diverse tastes extending even beyond their reading mediums to any number of lifestyle routines (eating, shopping, etc.). The study found that these people were also more inclined to connect with companies via their mobile devices. “The biggest surprise to me was with the segment of smartphone owners that do six or more activities on their phone every day and their print media consumption,” said Ms. Liuzzo. “This group is both subscribing to, and reading more, print materials than any of the other groups (smartphone or regular phone owners).”

According to our friends over at Mobile Marketer, InsightExpress then delved into an investigation of this market’s varying reading behaviours and discovered that magazines came out on top in terms of user engagement. For example, tearing out articles or tracking down a product mentioned in an article or ad.

Turns out, traditional print media isn’t out of the game just yet. It just needs to get wiser and learn a thing or two from it’s new young partner. From here, who knows where this dynamic duo can go? What do you think? Are print and mobile a match made in heaven? Tweet us your comments to @plasticmobile.

In the News

Just some of the people who think we’re pretty cool (thank you!).

Bloomberg

Market Wire

Yahoo! Finance

Canadian Business Opportunities

Euro Investor

Last night my colleague and I are driving back from a digital marketing event when I spoted an enormous QR code covering half of a billboard on top of a building and I wonder….

On one hand it’s absolutely thrilling to see quick response codes becoming so readily adopted by mainstream marketers after having been locked up for decades in Toyota’s warehouses in Japan. It’s encouraging for us mobile marketing pioneers to encounter supporters of our cause as we pave the way for marketing managers to embrace the mobile space.

On the other hand I wonder who comes up with the idea of spending loads of money on developing a campaign, and buying the ad space only to put that QR code on top of a building where it can only be scanned by Inspector Gadget. I don’t just wonder, I mean I actually want to call the advertiser and ask ‘why?’, ‘what were you thinking?’ or ‘were you thinking? Or did you leave that up to the genius that decided that your marketing budget should be allocated to QR codes on billboards?’.

I don’t want to go on complaining about how QR codes are mis-integrated into marketing campaigns. Rather I think that the obvious evidence of the abuse and misuse of them can prompt everyone to just take a little step back to basics. Assuming-dangerous waters- that you (advertiser) understand what a ‘Quick Response’ code is and you’re not just compelled to use it because you think it looks cool:

First, review your objectives. Ask yourself why you want to use QR codes. Is it to engage customers? Is it to investigate consumer behavior? Are you driving customers to a specific action?

Second, explore the possibilities. Ask yourself how you’d like to implement them. Are you providing value-add info? Is there a survey or questionnaire involved? Are you giving incentives to take action?

Thirdly, know your customers. Who are you targeting? What do they need from you in order to respond appropriately. Consumers today are quite intelligent but even the intelligent need some explanation as to why there’s a strange looking square shaped black and white illustration on your print ad. Marketing basically boils down to communication and unless your target market learns the QR code language and can decipher the meaning and purpose by just looking at it, you aren’t communicating anything.